Well, I tried. One of my recent blogs focused on my excitement over finding a storyline for my next novel, following a lengthy period of writers’ block. Unfortunately, not long after writing that blog, I realized that if I were to write the book I wanted to write, it could make certain people in my life upset and, possibly, angry. There is no way I could have avoided basing some of my characters on real-life people, given the topic I wanted to focus on. It would have been cathartic to write about these people and the pain that they had caused me and others with their appalling behavior. But it’s not to be. I have to play it safe and not use these real-life people as characters in my novel. It could backfire and end up hurting me. It’s not worth it, no matter how cathartic it might be.